The Helsinki Convention: 35 Years and Three Eras in Bridging Boundaries to Restore the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea

Abstract

By definition, environmental issues defy boundaries. This is also true in the northern European Baltic Sea region where the coastal countries have since 1974 cooperated to implement the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Areawithin its governing body—HELCOM. Over the last decades this cooperation has constantly evolved according to changes in political, economic and other types of boundaries. Initial emphasis of the cooperation was to overcome the east–west divide of cold war times by e.g. increasing scientific knowledge on pressures to, and on the state of, the marine environment. However after political changes of the 1990s the focus turned to work to identify, and address, the main pollution sources. The ecosystem approach adopted in 2003, and further defined in the Baltic Sea Action Plan of 2007, called for defining boundaries and limits of a healthy ecosystem as well as further intensified calls for crossing the border between environmental and socio-economic governance for more effective implementation of ecological goals.